


Who gave you that black eye?

by Maggies_Scribblings



Series: Fluff, follies and fireworks [Tumblr requests and prompts] [1]
Category: Miraculous Ladybug
Genre: Adrinette, Balcony Scene, Comfort, F/M, Fluff, Fluff and Humor, Identity Reveal, Marichat, Romance, adrienette - Freeform, love square, sleepover
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-04-03
Updated: 2020-04-03
Packaged: 2021-02-28 21:49:30
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,437
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23460511
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Maggies_Scribblings/pseuds/Maggies_Scribblings
Summary: In the aftermath of a horrible day, Chat Noir finds solace in the company of a good friend. An innocent conversation ends up being just a little too revealing.
Relationships: Adrien Agreste | Chat Noir/Marinette Dupain-Cheng | Ladybug
Series: Fluff, follies and fireworks [Tumblr requests and prompts] [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1687726
Comments: 15
Kudos: 471





	Who gave you that black eye?

**Author's Note:**

  * For [ScarletRedfox](https://archiveofourown.org/users/ScarletRedfox/gifts).



> Requested on Tumblr by [@lady-charinette](https://lady-charinette.tumblr.com/) from this [prompt list](https://maggies-scribblings.tumblr.com/post/613644301253099520/drabble-challenge-1-150).
> 
> Thanks to [Mostlovedgirl](https://archiveofourown.org/users/mostlovedgirl/pseuds/mostlovedgirl) and [Epcot97](https://archiveofourown.org/users/epcot97/pseuds/epcot97) for helping me finish this story! Check out their writing!

Adrien Agreste was a peculiar young man. When he was most stressed out and overworked, all he wanted to do was go out and run around. Naturally, having magical jewellery with the ability to turn into a cat hero came in handy on these occasions.

Today was one of those days…

School all day with an impromptu photoshoot during lunch — _It’s just some pick-ups_ , Nathalie said. _You’ll be done in thirty minutes_ , she said. He was definitely not done in thirty minutes. Instead, not only did he miss lunch but also got to the first class ten minutes late. He could hardly hear her Mme. Mendeleiev’s scolding over his stomach growling.

After school, he had fencing and Mandarin lessons, and a pesky akuma attack to round the day off. He could hardly keep his eyes open during dinner. _Thank goodness Father isn’t here_ , he thought as he munched on his food, slumped over the dinner table, supporting his head on his left hand.

And yet, by the time he finished his homework and preparations for the next day, he felt revived. The physical exhaustion had worn off as he wound down, leaving him absolutely wired. He knew he wouldn’t be able to sleep until he let off some steam.

Moments later, a black-clad catboy was running, vaulting and whooping over the rooftops of Paris. All was peaceful — it always was after an akuma attack — so there wasn’t any real need to patrol.

He decided to stop by his collège on the way home, as there had been break-ins at other schools to steal computers… Nothing to report here either.

As he zoomed over the school’s rooftop to make his way back home, he caught sight of a familiar form on a balcony across the street, under some colourful fairy lights.

In the months that passed since that night, when Marinette pretended to like Chat Noir, he realised he liked her. Much more than he thought. It would be really nice to hang out with her more in his civilian form, and he sought her company often, but she was still awkward with him. When he visited her in the catsuit, though… it was almost as if she was a different person. He stopped by once in a while to check in on her. They confided in each other (without revealing details) about their respective unrequited loves and broken hearts.

As he jumped closer to the bakery, Chat Noir noticed Marinette was resting her head on her arms as she stood leaning on the railing. She seemed to be talking to herself. Was she crying? Concerned, he approached, landing on the bannister gently, so as not to startle her.

“Good evening,” he greeted, softly.

Marinette straightened and looked up, holding an ice pack to her right eye.

“Oh! Hello, Chat Noir. What are you doing here?”

She pulled away the ice pack to flip it to the colder side.

“Whoa!” Chat Noir couldn’t hold back his worries. “Who gave you that black eye?”

He leapt down onto the balcony and approached her to get a better look.

“Is it very bad? It was just pink earlier… I was hoping the ice would keep it from turning black.” Marinette fretted, picking up her phone to turn on the camera in selfie mode.

“Crap! I look horrible,” she said, mostly to herself.

“Let me see.”

Chat Noir delicately used a claw to lift up her chin and swiped her bangs out of the way with the other hand.

“It’s not too bad. I’ve had worse,” he quipped, and was rewarded with a small smile. He then straightened up and continued in a mock-serious tone, wagging a finger in the air. “My prescription is to keep icing your eye hourly, but never more than twenty minutes at a time. You can also steep some chamomile tea bags, let them cool down in the fridge and then apply.”

Marinette laughed at his schtick. It was exactly what he was aiming for. He liked to hear her laugh. Changing his act, he menacingly punched his own palm.

“Now, are you going to tell me who I’m going to beat up?”

Marinette hesitated for a fraction of a second.

“No one. Unless you want to beat me, haha! I just— punched myself… sewing!”

“How can anyone punch themselves sewing?” He tried not to laugh — and failed. “Sorry, I just can’t see it.”

“Well, it happens. I was… sewing leather! You see, leather’s tough, and you have to pull the needle real hard, then sometimes it just — _whoosh_ — and —”

Marinette mimicked sewing movements as she described it ( _she’s too adorable!_ )

“I didn’t know you were into leather…” he purred, bending down to her eye level, and winked.

Marinette pushed him away by the nose, balancing herself on one foot.

“Don’t you start, you silly kitty!”

He froze. Something about her tone of voice, the way she pushed his nose playfully…

“Well, little lady, if you can’t handle a little _flurrr_ ting, just let me know!”

“You really are a tomcat, aren’t you? I bet you flirt with every girl in Paris.”

Chat Noir held his hand to his heart in mock offence.

“Why, I would never! I only have eyes for my lady and my little lady!”

“That’s still one lady too many for my taste!”

“Unfortunately, my Ladybug won’t give me the time of day.” His voice had lost all playfulness now. “I’m a hopeless, loveless kitty.”

He thought he saw her deflate somewhat.

“Poor kitty. I know exactly what that’s like.”

“The boy who broke your heart?”

“Hmm-hmm.”

“What— the guitar guy?” Chat Noir felt a rumble of anger bubbling in his chest. “The one with the weird eyelashes?”

“No!… And he has nice lashes, they’re just short.”

“Huh. I thought you were going out with him.”

“Definitely not. We hang out sometimes… but I just can’t open myself up to him as much as he needs me to.” She leaned against the railing again, looking towards the Seine. “He can read my emotions the way nobody else ever has, and sometimes I just can’t handle it.”

“Huh.”

Adrien’s chest ached. Weirdly, some part of him was happy to find out Luka was out of the picture.

“So… there’s another boy?”

“Yes. It’s hopeless.” Marinette sighed, but did not cry. Instead, she shook her head and breathed a bitter laugh. “I can’t even speak properly when I’m around him. I even told him I don’t like him like that… twice! And then pushed him and another friend together… I think they’re dating now! So yeah, I cock-blocked myself!”

“Language!” Chat Noir didn’t know what else to say except joke or pun. Anything to keep her from crying. “You should say _cat-blocked_ instead: it’s nicer and a brilliant pun!”

She chuckled again.

“So, I _cat-blocked_ myself. I might as well have told them to elope to Japan. I just made a fool of myself in front of the ice-cream man… _again_. And ran away… _again_.”

“Japan, huh?” The truth was right before his eyes, but he refused to admit it. Not without more information. “That’s a long way away for two French kids to elope.”

“Oh, she’s Japanese. I can just picture them, living a perfect life, winning fencing competitions together… Posing on the cover of gossip and business magazines as the new power couple in the industry…”

“Wow, you’ve given this a lot of thought, haven’t you?” He turned to her. “Don’t tell me it’s that model boy all the girls swoon for!”

“Bingo!”

Chat Noir had to sit down. He slid down with his back against the railing. How did he never see it? Was that why she behaved so weirdly around him? That would explain the posters, and the valentine card, and… He hit his forehead in frustration so hard Marinette looked down at him, confused.

“What’s wrong, Chat Noir? Are you okay?”

“I’m fine, Marinette. Just wondering what’s with this Adrien guy. All the girls seem to be fighting over him.” He added, smirking, “I’m prettier, funnier, and better dressed than him. Sure, he’s rich and handsome—”

“That’s not why I lo—like him!” she snapped. “It might be the reason for those other girls, but not for me.”

“Why _do_ you _lo-like_ him then?” He asked in a whisper.

Marinette sighed and sat on the floor beside him, fidgeting with the now warm ice pack.

“I kinda hated him at first. I thought he was another stuck-up, spoiled, rich brat, like Chloé.”

Chat Noir couldn’t speak, so he nodded for her to continue.

“There was a silly misunderstanding, and I gave him the cold treatment. And he _still_ took the time and effort to apologise. He was so sad by the thought of a total stranger not liking him…” She sighed, a small smile returning to her lips. “Then he made a kind gesture, a small one, but so sincere… he gave me his umbrella though it was raining,” breathing a chuckle, she added, “then, of course, I _had_ to get an attack of the clumsies and make him laugh.”

Adrien remembered that. He remembered how angry she was at first. How she heard him out even if he was friends with her bully. He remembered the tingle he felt when their fingers touched. How she laughed with him when the umbrella snapped close on her.

“When I heard him laugh, I was a goner. Yes, he’s a model, rich and famous… but it was his kindness that I fell in love with.”

“Fell— in love?”

He could hardly breathe. The last years flashed before his eyes. When they paired up for the tournament. When she helped him run away from his fans. When she danced with him at Chloé’s party. His head was spinning so much he couldn’t stand up.

 _Of course_ the coolest, prettiest, kindest girl he knew was heartbroken. She was right there, at the same time he chased after Ladybug in vain. She was his everyday Ladybug, and he was too blind or too stupid to see it!

Ladybug would never love him. He would always be the sidekick. He couldn’t even protect her properly. It was his only job. Even that same day, the soccer akuma hit her with a ball on the face. Hard. The Miraculous cure had healed most of it, but he could see her right eye swelling visibly even under the mask before they separated. He told her to ice it, too.

It was ironic that his everyday Ladybug hurt herself in the same eye. What a coincidence…

Chat Noir was hyperventilating now, as all the pieces of the puzzle fell into place. His perfect vision went blurry all of a sudden. He heard Marinette calling his name. Marinette? Ladybug?

Everything went black as he tried to call her name.

* * *

Chat Noir woke up in an ocean of pink. He was lying in Marinette’s bed. Ladybug’s bed? No, he must have had a concussion in the battle and now was imagining things.

He tried to sit up, but his head was too heavy. He groaned in pain.

“Oh, thank goodness you’re awake!” Marinette’s voice approached as she climbed the steps.

“W-what happened?”

“You fainted. You were mumbling something about Ladybug and passed out.”

“What did I say?”

Marinette hesitated.

“Nothing important. I panicked and carried you here.”

“Wow! You’re a mighty Mousinette!”

“Yeah, I work out,” she replied, dismissively, while replacing the ice pack with a new one. “You have a huge bump on your head. It must have been when the soccer guy threw that goalpost at you.”

“Huh. I was fine before.”

“It’s like my black eye. The swelling often gets worse before it can get better.”

“Yes… it’s _exactly_ like your black eye.”

“Here, take this,” she handed him a pill and a glass of water. “It’s paracetamol, it will help with the pain.”

“How do you know I got hit with a goalpost earlier?” He asked, straightening up a little to take the medicine.

“I— I must have seen it on the Ladyblog.”

“I visited the Ladyblog after the fight. There’s no video footage and all the photos are fuzzy.”

In fact, there were very few photos of the battle, and the ones there were nebulous. The Paris Saint-Germain goalkeeper had been akumatized after yelling at some fans who threw smoke bombs into the pitch. His powers included throwing endless soccer balls and equipment, while his gloves had the ability to shoot colourful smoke as a cover.

Marinette had no way of knowing about his injury. Another check on his mental evidence list.

“I… I saw—read— _heard_ it somewhere else. Yes, I must have, right? It’s not like I was there, right?”

The dizziness returned, unforgiving. Whether from the injury or from the new information, it was impossible to tell. He laid his head back down on Marinette’s fluffy cat pillow.

“Do you mind if I stay a little until the pill kicks in?”

“Sure,” she replied. Was that a sigh of relief? “You relax. I’ll be down at my desk working.”

“Can I see it?” Chat Noir asked, keeping his eyes closed.

“See what?”

“The leather piece you were working on. The one which made you punch yourself.”

“Maybe some other day, kitty. Now rest.”

* * *

The second time Adrien woke up, the first signs of dawn were beginning to light up the room. His head was much better, but he still couldn’t sit up.

A raven head and a delicate hand rested on his chest. His left arm was around her waist, their legs intertwined.

_Oh, right. She must have gone to sleep after I passed out._

The way she was snuggling against him was a testament to the absolute trust and affection between them, and it melted his heart.

Adrien felt grateful it was Saturday. He didn’t have anything scheduled, so he wouldn’t be missed until lunchtime. As much as he would like to stay, he _should_ get ready to leave.

Acting on an involuntary impulse, he tucked away a stray lock of Marinette’s hair. His hand lingered for some seconds more than strictly necessary, smoothing her bangs away from her eyes.

It was only when Marinette breathed out a sigh that Adrien noticed his hand was ungloved.

_Crap! Crap! Crap!_

He called out in a whisper-shout for his kwami. Why did he detransform? His ring was still there, to his relief. Was Plagg injured? Or just out of energy? He had to get back home, now!

_“PLAGG!”_

He tried to quietly untangle himself from the covers, human and otherwise, but the pair was so wrapped up in each other that by the time he succeeded, Marinette was awake and gaping at him.

The next few seconds appeared to happen in slow motion.

Adrien tried to hide by ducking beside the bed, even though Marinette ( _Ladybug!_ ) was so close it was in vain.

Marinette yanked on the covers to hide her face, either to stifle a scream or to try to unsee what she’d seen.

Adrien tried to escape, clumsily crawling towards the stairs, but his legs were still entangled when Marinette yanked the covers, causing him to be slingshot all the way down to the lower level of the bedroom.

Two sleepy, grumpy kwamis (one grumpier than the other) peeked up from behind the pillows, screaming.

Marinette tried to climb down the stairs to help Adrien, only to trip on the sheet as well and fall face down on top of him with a _thud_.

Plagg and Tikki followed, concerned for their owners’ well-being.

The situation was altogether absurd, all four frozen for what felt like an eternity, looking from one to the other and back again in a staring standoff.

“I know you told me you were crushing on me, Milady, but this is ridiculous!”

Marinette let out a tiny _“Eep!”_ and scrambled to get up.

“What-how-why are you calling me that?”

_Oh no. She’s panicking. What do I do?_

“Well, Buginette, I guess the cat’s out—”

“—Don’t even _think_ about it!” Marinette interrupted, poking a finger on his chest.

Taking a few steps back, she just pointed a finger at him in a bossy ‘stay quiet’ gesture. He didn’t dare do otherwise.

Her brows were furrowed, eyes darting from side to side, just like Ladybug did when she got a particularly enigmatic lucky charm. Looking everywhere _except_ at him.

Then, she seemed to remember something. Her eyes flew open and she covered her face with her hands.

“I can’t believe you just sat there listening to me pour my heart out like that,” she murmured from behind her fingers, then gestured in his general direction. “All the while just… just.. _being Adrien_!”

“It was no fun for me, either,” he murmured, venturing a step towards her. “I couldn’t help being me, you know.”

She turned to the kwamis.

“And now what? Do we have to give our Miraculous up? Tikki? Plagg?”

“That was Master Fu’s rule,” the tiny red god flew towards her and patted her face in comforting reassurance. “Now _you_ are the guardian, _you_ get to make your own rules.”

“Then why did Master Fu want to keep us in the dark about each other?” Adrien asked, his arms reaching out in frustration. “Giving the Miraculous to us, being in the same school — heck, even in the same _arrondissement_ — finding out was inevitable!”

“It _was_ inevitable,” Tikki agreed, turning to Adrien. “The Miraculous of Creation and Destruction work in mysterious ways. Even we kwamis, don’t know everything.”

“Tell me about it!” Plagg huffed. “You were always meant to find each other, kids. Only, not before you were ready to!”

“Do I _look_ like I was ready?!” Marinette paced the room, tugging at her hair, before stopping to face and point at the kwamis. “Wait, you two _little buggers_ knew about us all this time!”

“You’ve been playing us since the beginning!” Adrien stood by her side, glaring at the little deities.

“Come on, Plagg, let’s get you something to eat and give these two some privacy. I’m sure they have lots to talk about!”

Watching their companions fly away, they remained quiet for a few minutes. Marinette paced some more before sitting down on her chaise longue. Finally, Adrien was the first to break the silence.

“I’m so sorry, Marinette. I should have just left last night when it got too personal. I abused your confidence, and look where that got us!”

Marinette glanced at him, then looked away.

“It’s okay, Adrien. Seeing that you had a concussion and all.”

“I was in shock, really,” he let out an unamused chuckle. “Here I was, pining for the unrequited love of my life, when I found out this _other_ girl I really, really like… likes me!”

Marinette risked a peek.

“You really, really like me?”

“It’s funny, Plagg kept calling you my girlfriend. I always denied it, but deep down I always felt like you were more than just a friend to me. Now I know why.”

“Aren’t you just saying that because now you know I’m Ladybug?”

“No! I mean… obviously I know, I even considered the possibility sometimes, but I couldn’t believe it—”

“I get it, you couldn’t believe the clumsy girl from your class could be Ladybug,” Marinette sniffled, turning away from him. Adrien knelt down in front of her, holding her face and gently making her look at him.

“I couldn’t believe this unlucky black cat could be so fortunate as to have his best friend and his love within the same person.”

“Oh, stop,” she mumbled nervously. Adrien felt encouraged.

“I couldn’t believe the pretty, talented, kind and selfless Marinette could also be the confident, heroic, amazing Ladybug.”

Marinette smiled shyly.

“I couldn’t believe you could fit so much awesomeness in such a small, cute package.”

Marinette hit him in the face with a pillow, but he went on regardless. He moved closer, a very Chat-like smile on his face.

“I couldn’t believe Ladybug could be so adorably shy and… and weirdly insecure, though she has so much going for her.”

Their faces were almost touching now, their voices down to a whisper.

“I can hardly believe Ladybug is going to let me kiss her now.”

“She is?” Marinette looked at him incredulously, but he saw the teasing glint in her eye.

He nodded. “Absolutely.”

“Well then, what are you waiting for?”

The small distance still separating them disappeared as they kissed. It felt like an earthquake shaking their very souls. Like fireworks igniting their bodies. Like everything was right in the world.

_Finally._

**Author's Note:**

> Constructive criticism is welcome and appreciated.  
> English is not my first language and I tend to use UK English. If you catch any inconsistencies please let me know.
> 
> [My Tumblr.](https://maggies-scribblings.tumblr.com)


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